Lines crowded Moscow subway entrances early Wednesday due to COVID-19 travel permit checks

As digital passes for most Moscow residents to use public transit became mandatory on April 15, crowds lined up at subway station entrances to have their passes checked. Social media users wrote that the delays were due to the time it takes for police officers to check each person’s digital permit.

By 10:43 a.m., Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported that the metro entrance ways were once again clear. He asked the city’s police force to ensure that officers organize permit checks in the future in ways that do not allow for the formation of crowds.

TASS reported that police are checking transit passes at every Moscow subway station but not on city buses. The Moscow metro declined to comment on the police’s actions to the newspaper Vedomosti.